Sathya Sai Baba Centre of Hong Kong 10/F, Block A, Burlington House, 92-94 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong Tel : 852-23674240, Fax : 852-27248000 Email : saiorghk@netvigator.com
"LOVE ALL SERVE ALL" "HELP EVER, HURT NEVER" Sai Baba

Being the I within

Swami says: “You are not one person but three: the one that you think you are (body), the one that others think you are (mind) and the one that you truly are (Atman).”

In our everyday experience we take ourselves to be the body. That is why we are obsessed with feeding and pampering it from morning to night. Others see us more in light of the qualities of our mind. People may describe us as being interesting or boring, mature or immature, etc.

So far I have taken myself to be just the body-mind entity and, therefore, I have been suffering its limitations.

Lord Sai, the compassionate one, has descended on earth to remove our sufferings and limitations by re-educating us. We will gain much by paying heed to what He says. Swami says that you are neither the body nor the mind but the pure Atman that enlivens the body-mind instrument.

Right now my ‘I’ (identity) rests in the body-mind. How do I come to rest in the Atma? Firstly, one has to know what Atma is and what it is not. In other words what I am and what I am not. I must negate what I am not and assert what I am. In the Lord’s words and in the scriptures Shraddha (faith) is most important for that. ‘Seeing is believing’ is the worldly way of learning. But to understand the Truth I must believe first and then I shall be able to see. Therefore, faith in the Guru’s words is very important.

Atma is beyond words. Therefore, it is beyond any description. All the scriptures put together cannot describe it. The descriptive words used by the scriptures only point in the direction of the Atman. A seeker must first try to look in the right direction and then lift his/her vision from the pointer to that which is being pointed. Only then will the Atman be seen. The Atman is formless so it is seen not with our ordinary eyes but with the eyes of knowledge. Only when you see It can you be It.

This ‘Seeing’ and ‘Being’ is done by your own self. No one else can do it for you. The effort has to be put forth by you alone. No one can transfer his ‘seeing’ to you. Seeing takes place in a purified mind. A mind which has exhausted all vasanas (likes and dislikes) is a purified mind. A desireless mind is a purified mind. The task of Sadhana is to achieve just that, i.e. purity of mind. A pure mind is a quiet mind.

When the mind is purified, what you truly are is revealed to you. Sadhana purifies you but nothing or no one can liberate you. For you are already liberated. You are That, ‘Tat Twan Asi’, declare the Vedas. Even Swami says “You are God. You just don’t know it.” Hence, know It, see It and be It. Jnana (knowledge) is the biggest purifier which leads to ‘seeing’, and this in turn leads to ‘Being’.

Swami has pointed out a threefold sadhana programme for the ‘Being’ to take place. It is Shravana, Manana and Nidhidyasana. Listening to the exposition of the scriptures from experienced teachers, contemplating and reflecting on its meaning, and meditating on it, in other words, living it.

For the understanding to take place one has to unlearn all that one has previously learnt. The mind needs to be re-educated. This is because all that we have learnt so far pertains to that which we are not, namely the body-mind. Our mind is conditioned with those ideas. Seeing from a conditioned mind we will only see name and form. Hence, we have to de-condition the mind and unlearn all that has been learnt regarding ourselves, the world and God.

We take ourselves to be a person who is born, who is growing and who will eventually die. But the scriptures say I have no birth, and hence no death. I always am. There never was a time when I was not and there never will be a time when I will not be. I alone am in this world. There is nothing else apart from Me.

I am one, I am infinite, I am eternal, I am perfect, I am free, I am imperishable, I am consciousness, I am actionless, I am changeless, I am Divine, and I am God.

God you think, God you become. Dust you think, dust you become. “As you think, so you become”, said the great Rishi Ashtavakra. Therefore, assert your true Self, for freedom is your birth right. You must meditate deeply on the words that describe your true Self, you must go to the very depths of the word.

United with your true Self you are at once united with the whole universe. That is true unity. This true Self, this Atman, is nameless and formless. It is all-pervading. All forms are in it, including mine. It is that which is holding every form.

Everything in the universe is an object to me. An object is that which can be seen and experienced. When I identify with the Atman my own body-mind too becomes an object for Me. Something which is different from Me, the seer.

‘I’, the consciousness, am the only subject. There is only one subject and that can never be made an object. The body-mind can never perceive ‘I’, the Reality. God alone can see God. I (the ego) must die (not literally) for God vision to take place.

Then only it is known that the whole universe is My manifestation alone. Each face is my face. Who then will I hate or love? Slowly I will become neutral. For all is Me. Thus, I will not be bound to any form, not even my own.

The scriptures say that at a time you can perceive only one thing, either the world or God. Absence of God is perception of the world, and perception of God is absence of the world. When your vision is on God, only God is seen and oneness is experienced. When you perceive something other than yourself, you perceive this world of plurality.

Hence, I must look beyond every form. I must enquire deeply to discover what is enlivening each form? Go into the very depths of the form and you will find yourself. You are the witness of all forms, including your own. A witness is always different from what is witnessed. The ‘witnessed’ keeps changing every second, the ‘witness’ that you are remains changeless.

In every transaction in life I must contact this ‘witness’. Each transaction is to be witnessed. Are you aware of yourself while functioning? Or do you lose yourself? Enquire, practice and become aware.

We can get rooted in this ‘witnesshood’ only if we give up doership of every action coming out of us. Claiming doership means identifying with the body-mind because action is in the realm of the body-mind. Remember “I am the support of the body-mind and hence the support of the action too. I am not the body-mind and, therefore, not the doer. I’m the dynamic actionless witness.”

Rooted in ‘That’ one becomes an ‘actor’ not a ‘doer’. An actor only plays a role and he never becomes the role. An actor does and says according to the directions given, he does not add things of his own. An actor always takes his cue from the director. An actor does not lose his identification in the role played because he knows he is not it. An actor enjoys every role. An actor never does anything, he simply acts. He is never punished for the crimes he committed in the play for he never actually did anything.

One must understand this and give in to the will of Ishwara (God). When doership is not there all actions get dissolved and witnesshood is possible.

I would like to relate a story here from the life of Shri Krishna and Rishi Durvasa which shows us the difference between a ‘doer’ and an ‘actor’.

Once Rishi Durvasa was traveling from place to place with his army of disciples, when he reached the kingdom of Krishna. On reaching the outskirts of the city, he send word that he and his thousands of disciples were going for a bath in the river and world later come to the palace to enjoy their hospitality.

The 16,000 queens of Krishna got into action to receive their holy guests with all the possible delicacies they could think of. The rishi was known for cursing people in anger and so they did not want to displease him.

Now it so happened that a storm had been brewing up and so the river went in spate. The rishi with his army of disciples was washed over to the bank or the other side of the river. The queens got worried when he did not show up and so they decided to take the food to him.

So the 16,000 queens with their 16,000 maids marched down to the banks of the river in search of their guests. They saw their guests waving hungrily from the river bank on the other side and did not know what to do. It was too dangerous to cross over by boat. They knew that the only one who could help them out in that situation was their beloved Krishna. So they turned to Him for help.

Krishna said ‘You go near the river and say that “if Krishna is a nitya braharachari (an eternal celibate) then please O river give us way.”’ The queens laughed at the very idea. “How could that be”, they thought? He had not just one, two or three wives but 16,000 of them. And yet, He calls Himself a Brahmachari!

Krishna said “Just go and say”. By experience they knew that He would never misguide them. So they did as advised. And wonder of all wonders … the river parted and gave way. All of them crossed over to the other side with all their goodies. The rishi ate to his heart’s content and was extremely pleased with them.

Now with the job at hand done, they naturally wanted to return to their Krishna. The river was still quite wild, so they sought the rishi’s help. The rishi gave a loud burp and said ‘Go tell the river “if Durvasa is nitya upavasi (one who is eternally fasting) then please give us way”’.

They were utterly confused but did not want to argue with him. He had eaten every dish with great relish and there he was claiming to be fasting, that also eternally. This was too much for them but they did as advised. And wonder of all wonders ... the river parted again.

How did that happen? What exactly was happening? When Sri Krishna and the rishi advised the queens they were talking from the stand point of the Atman, which is the highest truth. The Atman never does anything. It is actionless. And both of them were well rooted in that knowledge. Their ‘I’ was always resting in the Atman.

Even though they were performing all the necessary actions, they were not the doers of those actions and, therefore, not the enjoyers too. They were merely actors playing out a role, fully aware of their true identity.

That is ‘Being the I within’, always resting in the Atman, never swerving even for a fraction of a second. That is unity at its highest.

Send mail to saiorghk@netvigator.com with questions or comments about this web site.